Middletown High School to participate in HIV/STD/Pregnancy Prevention program

Published
2:57 pm EST, Tuesday, December 10, 2013

MIDDLETOWN >> Staff at Middletown High School will be receiving additional training to improve sexual health education.

Selected by the Connecticut State Department of Education, Middletown will be participating in the HIV/STD/Pregnancy Prevention component of the Partnering to Create Healthy School Communities for Successful Students Initiative, officials said.

“The goals are to establish a safe and supportive environment for students and staff,” Superintendent of Schools Pat Charles said. “We know that we do have students who come into the nurse’s office and ask about pregnancy and pregnancy screening.”

The program will be running at the high school-based health center and is a five-year partnership working to build the ability of districts to address school attendance and academic achievement relating to critical health problems interfering with student learning.

“We want our students to be successful in school and in life,” Charles said. “We also want them to understand the choices that they have and how to participate in healthy relationships and know there are ways that they can avoid pregnancy.”

The professional development for the staff will include different ways that they can reach out to different sectors of the school population and get the information out in meaningful ways to students.

“We want to improve their opportunities for education as they move forward,” Charles said.